


On A Mirror's Edge

by Ketakoshka



Series: Monster Jon [3]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast), The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Eldritch Jon, F/F, F/M, Gen, Jon and Jonny look the most different since Jon is a monster and also shorter, Lyfrassir Edda Joins the Mechanisms, M/M, Monster!Jon, Multi, Other, Polyamorous Mechanisms (The Mechanisms), Spiders, The Beholding is Jon's parent, The Mechanisms Were The Archivist's College Band, The Mechanisms look mostly identical to their Magnus counterparts, The Mechanisms-Typical Violence, jon ends up in another dimension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:00:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25465906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ketakoshka/pseuds/Ketakoshka
Summary: Helen Richardson was a delightfully calm woman, most of the time. Helen the Distortion, however, could hold a mean grudge... Now, she holds one against Jon for letting her walk into the Distortion and becoming one with its messy cosmos.When Jon gets lost, he tries to follow the sound of music he knows so well and winds up stuck with the actual Mechanisms. Who Knew there are alternate universes?--A removed and slightly altered plotline from Little Eyes, featuring selectively mute!Jon, hard of hearing!Martin, Jonny being terrified of spiders, panicky Beholding, polyamorous Mechs, and Jon trying to adopt Octokittens.
Relationships: Annabelle Cane & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Jonny d'Ville & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Jonny d'Ville/Everyone, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, The Beholding & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, The Mechs are poly, The Toy Soldier & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: Monster Jon [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1843834
Comments: 25
Kudos: 247
Collections: Mechanisms and Magnus Crossovers that maintain the integrity of mechanisms lore





	1. Familiar Faces

**Author's Note:**

> So like I said in the summary, this was originally going to be a main plotline in the second half of Little Eyes, but I decided to rip it out and put it in here. Updates will be a little more sparse as Little Eyes, Inkling and my assignments have precedence.

There's an emptiness in his head. An emptiness that he has never felt so strongly before... Michael had never allowed this to happen... Michael Knew that Jon wouldn't fair well without his ren's steady presence; Jon is used to being laid bare before the Beholding, able to be swaddled at a moments notice by the static song...

But now, alone in his own head, he can't seem to find a voice that isn't Helen's, laughing as he wanders ever deeper into the Distortion's hallways. He is strangled and lost and so very alone...

Then he hears a song... a voice so similar to his own when the word come.

He runs towards it without a second thought, hopeful that if he runs hard and fast enough that he will find the door that leads back home... and he finds a door, one marked by gear symbol Tim made for them.

He throws it open and steps through, and the door closes behind him...

He sees familiar enough faces...

But they're not his friends...

This isn't his home...

And there in the middle of these familiar yet strange faces is one so similar to his own: Jonny d'Ville.


	2. Soundless

The silence stretches on and on as the Mechanisms stare back until Jonny pulls his gun and levels it at Jon’s head. “Who the fuck are you?” he snaps, fully expecting to receive a tidal wave of excuse and pleas for clemency, but Jon only cocks his head and smiles. 

Slowly, never taking his eyes off the others, Jon opens his mouth and traces an ‘X’ over his throat before miming writing.

“You’re… mute?” Nastya guesses.

Jon nods enthusiastically and mimes writing again. After another moment of silence, Lyf tosses a worn notebook and pen at him. “Thanks,” Jon signs and drops to his knees to scribble out what he can. When he’s done, he holds it out for one of the Mechs to take; it’s Gunpowder Tim that does.

There’s a few more silent minutes as mechanical eyes rove over the explanation, and then Tim sighs. He looks back at Jon and asks, “do you want me to read this out loud or pass it ‘round?” Jon holds up one finger. “So first option it is then…‘Says his name is Jonathan Sims, and he wound up here on accident. Ran through a hallway between dimensions and picked the wrong door… Says, he thought he was headin’ home.”

“The fuck?” Jonny hisses. “Either you’re the dumbest motherfucker in the galaxy or the unluckiest… Regardless…” He stands up and stalks closer to the man still on his knees . “Why shouldn’t I just shoot you right here and right now?”

Despite the emptiness in Jon’s head without his Ren’s crooning, staticky, silken presence, the part of it that can never be severed, the part that makes Jon what he is snarls and rears up like a cobra. His green eyes cast a glow upon his cheeks, curls and fanged grin, and he just reaches out...

**_‘I don’t know Jonny… You could shoot me if you wanted to… Perhaps I would die… Perhaps I wouldn’t… But I guarantee that if you shoot me… or stab me… or push me out of the airlock that you will one day find yourself standing before a Horror that will Know you completely… There will be no secrets, no sense of you… You will be nothing and everything beneath its gaze, and you will spend an eternity and a second in its knowing… And when you finally die, you’ll know it’s because you harmed that Dread Horror’s son.’_ **

Jonny takes a step backwards, eyes wide, and the gun lowers slightly. But it only takes a moment before that cocky smile is back and he’s offering a hand for Jon to take. “You’ve got fire… I’ll admit that.”

Jon allows himself to be led over to the table and curls up between Jonny and Lyf. He pretends that he can’t see the suspicion on everyone’s faces… and he Knows that they’ll be discussing what to do with him when he’s finally marched to a cell.

“Well, crew… It looks like we have a stowaway for the time being.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Jon threatens Jonny, and Jonny decides not to push his luck yet.
> 
> But the crew doesn't trust him, yet...


	3. Teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TS is a sweetheart.

Jon supposes that he’s grateful that he wasn’t assaulted or tossed out into space… but he’s more than a little wary when he’s led to a little room deep in Aurora’s corridors and the door isn’t locked. Nastya had warned him that she would know if he tried anything, and he didn’t ask… He assumed that Aurora would tell her immediately.

Still, Jon rarely wandered out of his little space without one of the Mechanisms asking him to come to dinner, but that’s as much trepidation as grief. For the first couple days, he alternated between staring listlessly at the ceiling with the broken recorder clutched to his chest and trying to figure out how he’s going to get back home. He can’t feel the Beholding, and his phone has no signal. He can’t feel the twisting of Michael or the laces of the web… He can’t feel anyone that could bring him home.

On his fourth day aboard the Aurora, he hears singing drifting in from the vents and wanders down the corridor until he comes across silvery strands of cobwebs and many eyes staring back at him with curiosity. “Hello,” he manages and sits down off to the side just before their territory to watch. “Not… interrupt… listen…”

And on, the spiders work, singing to themselves and the odd creature that looks so much like the arachnophobic first mate but only offers them love.

* * *

One day, Jon finds himself sitting at a little bench beside a wide window. He likes looking out into the depths of space, likes feeling inconsequential before its massive gaze... It's the closest thing to being home. There's an octokitten in his lap, a white and gray critter that purrs and whirrs in a relatively similar manner to Chiron. It's eyes (it has two) are copper colored instead of blue, ruining what little illusion it affords him. Still, the little beast clings to him with reverent furver… and how could he deny that affection when he feels so alone?

"Hello, Jonathan! What are you doing out here alone, good chap?"

At the sound of TS, Jon holts upright and turns to look at the sweet doll. "Hi," he signs, trusting that either the universal translator or Aurora will fill them in. "Feel small here. Pretend space same as Ren."

"I see." TS takes a seat right next to Jon but leaving enough space between them for the younger to move if need be. "I brought these for you." In their hand is a few well polished teeth; only one is humanoid.

"Thank you." Jon slips them into his ever present messenger bag. "You nice. I like you."

TS looks overjoyed and fixes Jon with an uncanny, yet sweet smile. "I would like to be friends."

Jon nods and holds out a pinky which TS returns with after a moment. The glove is cold against Jon’s skin, but it doesn't stop the pinky promise. "Friends," he warbles, catching the other off guard.

"Your voice is pretty…"

Oh, how Jon wishes it wasn't so easy to make him blush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I needed to get the parent fic to its current point before I could post because of Chiron. Similar pauses are going to happen, but not until Chapter 6 of this fic.


	4. Little Incidents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I suck.
> 
> Anyways, I'll be finishing Little Eyes in like the next couple of weeks, and this will take the place of that spot in my schedule. So I'll probably finish this one by the end of March.
> 
> Maybe.

When something’s wrong, it often takes a series of …  _ little incidents _ for anyone to start asking questions. For the crew of the Aurora where everything is weird and 'wrong' all of the time, it's easy to throw little incidents into the nebulous bubble of 'there's been weirder'.

Except with Jon, little incidents add up to a much weirder whole than anticipated.

* * *

Jonny and Gunpowder Tim are arguing about something stupid that Marius couldn't give less of a damn about, even when Lyf starts in on them and Aurora is making an annoyed screeching sound. But all of it suddenly stops when there's a pained yelp down the hall.

A moment later, Andromeda and an orange octokitten named Pumpkin come crawling into the room with terrified little yowls. Aurora speaks up, having searched for the source of the sound and the octokittens' worry, "Marius, Jonathan has fallen into the railing down the corridor. He's bleeding quite heavily."

Marius considers quickly if it would be faster to bring Jon to medical or into the recreation room they're currently occupying. "Tim, Jonny can you bring him in here? Lyf, help me clear the table." When Gunpowder Tim and Jonny bring in Jon, there's a worried edge to their expressions that neither Marius nor Lyf are used to seeing, but the stowaway looks strangely pale… almost deathly so. "Let's hope it's something I can fix…"

There's ichor pouring out onto the tabletop, but it takes more than a few moments for Marius to realize that it's Jon’s blood. His fingers probe the young man's hair until he finds the source at the back of his head, close to the top. It's deep and gushing blood with each moment… and Marius realizes that Jon isn't noticeably breathing.

Before he can check for a pulse or any breath, the ichor stops flowing, and luminescent green eyes flutter open.

Jon lets out a wheezing little chirp and signs sluggishly, "hi, Raum. My head hurts."

It takes Marius a while to realize that he's the one laughing.

* * *

On one of the rare occasions that Raphella manages to drag Ivy out of her archives to spend time with her and Nastya, Aurora calls out to the archivist. "Ivy, Jonathan has requested to read some of your books."

There's a frightful moment where Ivy's breath catches in her throat, imagining what might happen to them… Then she remembers how gentle he was with the book Lyf let him borrow the other day. He was so quiet and still and did his absolute best to keep it in perfect condition. Normally, even that much wouldn't be enough to completely sway her decision, but Jon managed to keep it pristine, even with Jonny shooting Gunpowder Tim right beside him.

Ivy lets out a long breath. "Tell him that he can look at any book he can read… as long as he stays in my quarter with it."

A moment passes as Aurora relays this message. "He says, thank you, and that he'll stay in your quarters like you asked."

With that reassurance, she puts it out of her mind for a time. It's only on her way back to her quarters four hours later that she remembers.

She expects to see Jon finishing up his first, or maybe second book, depending on which ones struck his fancy, or for him to have vanished after finding nothing interesting. She doubts that there’s much in there that he can even read without Aurora’s help, and she wouldn’t exactly be surprised if he got frustrated enough to leave.

However, the sight in her quarters is nothing like either of those scenarios.

Ivy remembers cleaning her disorganized hellscape of a desk just that morning, but the gleaming stone is nearly engulfed by the madness Jon has wrought. Four pillars of books sit on his left side in the sort of disorganized stacks one makes when they’re finished with such things. Quite a few of them have bookmarks inside, just tiny scraps of paper that shouldn’t malform the pages or spines. On his right are a litany of papers covered in rushed but still delicate script; as she watches, some of them give up on staying together and join their brethren on the floor.

There’s a disquieted look about the young man, one that turns his luminous eyes darker as his teeth worry black ichor from his lip. Ivy wonders if he’s frustrated; she wonders if she should say something, or if that would make things worse...

“What’s this then?” she finally asks, her tone purposefully light.

Jon only holds up one finger and scans his way down the last page, growing more and more frustrated with each passing second. The moment he’s done, he flips the book closed and adds it to the stack next to him with a quiet growl. He turns the book around to show her the front cover:  _ Korialk nit Bonliao: Sowildi (Prince in Peril: Exile) _ .

Ivy finds herself gobsmacked by his choice; that book is written in a language  _ and _ dialect so very different from anything the other Mechanisms have ever bothered to learn… She doubts that any of the others have even encountered one of the Massik before. She’s so concerned, but oh, so curious.

“Not a favorite?”

Jon growls again and shakes his head. “Ending stupid,” he signs.

“Did you read the first six then?”

Without looking away from her, he pulls down the first six from his pile; underneath them are various biology, chemistry, and political books from across the stars. “Hate Hyaidl.”

Ivy can’t help it; the situation is so damn ridiculous that she ends up snorting. “I hate him too…”

They stay up for hours longer, talking about the books Jon had read while she was gone and ragging on the ridiculous parts of the  _ Prince in Peril _ series. They spew venom about the vile Prince Hyaidl and the fact that he’s practically upstaged the original main character: Azirask. They commiserate on the hopeful ending of the first six only to be completely destroyed by the final words of that seventh and final novel…

Ivy nearly forgets that Jon shouldn’t know these languages, because that’s just another one of those strange things.

* * *

Dinner is normally a noisy affair, but for once, the Mechanisms are looking forward to a bit of blissful silence. However, a clingy, grey and white octokitten hasn't got the message, chittering on and on at Jon for nearly fifteen minutes.

Two seconds before Jonny decides to kill the chatty octokitten, consequences be damned, Jon looks down at her, sighs and pats his lap. Andromeda mewls once, waiting for his nod before she climbs up the 

She blinks slowly in greeting, seeming delighted when Jon returns in kind, and then burrows down into his lap for a bit of a nap.

Jonny rolls his eyes and takes a swig from his half-full cup. "You spoil that fucker."

"Andromeda want sleep. Ground cold."

Jon is largely unaware of the confusion that his explanation generated and would have remained so if the table remained so quiet; however, it can never be said that Ivy Alexandria lets such intriguing ideas lie.

Ivy crosses her fingers and rests her chin on them, a curious gleam in her eye and a lazy smirk to her smile. "So, you speak octokitten too?"

Jon blushes hotly and smiles almost sheepishly. "Sorta…"

Hearing the little eldritch's voice snaps Gunpowder Tim out of his stupor as excitement rolls through him. "Wait, you really speak octokitten?"

Jon nods sharply.

"How splendid!" TS chirps, clapping their hands together twice in quick succession. "It will be good to have someone who can actually talk to them!"

Jon's staticky, broken laughter fills the room with warmth and stilling the questions they have, until he finally speaks. "...not just octokittens. I Know every language, even those of animals… If I can hear it or read it, I Know it… It's called Understanding."


End file.
